


Dance With Me

by mygodhatesme



Series: Peaky Blinders X Readers [2]
Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, First Kiss, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, Major Character Injury, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29266050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mygodhatesme/pseuds/mygodhatesme
Summary: Your childhood friend John promises you a dance at the pub you work at but he doesn’t show up later. You spend the night worried about him until he shows up at your door, wounded.
Relationships: John Shelby/Reader
Series: Peaky Blinders X Readers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149209
Kudos: 3





	Dance With Me

**Author's Note:**

> i’m a sucker for hurt/comfort so you’ll probably see it as a pattern in my peaky blinders fics. i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i did enjoy writing.

Friday nights were always the busiest at the pub you worked at. You were busy filling up pints. You were also bopping your head to the song the pretty lady on top of the chair was singing. 

It was a joyful night, everyone was singing and you loved Friday nights for that. You left the bar and started wiping the tables. The tables were sticky from all the spilled drinks, as usual. 

As you were minding your business, enjoying the next song that lady was singing, everyone just shut up. The pub went all quiet. You heard the door close and you looked up. There stood John Shelby. 

“Go ahead people, continue.” he said and people started singing again. You left the cloth you wiped the tables with on a table and ran to John. You threw yourself in his arms. 

“I haven’t seen you in weeks! Where have you been?” you asked. If anyone else asked him that, he would be furious but it was you. You grew up together, you were basically a Shelby and he thought you were the only one worth telling where he was. 

“Had some business in London.” he said, he held your hand and dragged you to a table. He sat down and put his tab of cigarettes on the table.

“I’m working.” you smiled. He just turned to your boss and said “She’s taking a break.” you chuckled, sat down to the chair beside him. 

“I’d rather you work in one of our pubs.” he told you, the only thing you did was roll your eyes. “I’m good here, thanks though.” you said a moment later, just to fill the uncomfortable silence between you. 

“So you were in London for almost 3 weeks?” John nodded to your question, that was unusual. He usually never stayed in London for that long, “It should be serious then.” you said and he nodded again.

“Is something wrong? You’re a little too silent.” you asked. “Uh no, I actually wanted to ask you if you’d like to dance.” John smiled. You didn’t know if he genuinely wanted to dance or if he just didn’t want to talk about what he did in London.

“No, I’m at work!” you said, he smiled. He wasn’t going to let you go without a dance. “Come on Y/N!” he encouraged you. You would love to dance with him but not at work. 

“My shift ends in half an hour, what if we dance then?” you ask, John looks happy to hear that. He looked at his watch, he got on his feet. “I’ll be back in half an hour.” he promised and left the pub.

You got back to wiping the tables. The time passed quickly and you didn’t realise how fast. The music coming out of the record player replaced the lady’s voice, who seemed to leave.

You dropped the dirty cloth into the bucket of water. You looked around the pub and then the clock on the wall. John hadn’t came, it’s been more than half an hour.

“Is it okay if I leave?” you asked your boss. The pub wasn’t as crowded as it was earlier and it was obvious he could manage on his own.

“See you tomorrow Y/N!” he shouted behind you, “Good night.” you shouted back before opening the door. You walked down the dark alleys of the city, your steps were slow. You weren’t afraid of the dark nights of Birmingham, you knew how to protect yourself well. 

When you finally got to your home, all you wanted to do was go to sleep but your mind was busy with John. Not showing up was nothing like him. He had never stood you up. If he said he’d show up and dance with you, he was going to. You could feel something was wrong.

You just changed into your night dress and went to bed immediately. You lied in your bed, closed your eyes but you couldn’t sleep. Normally you wouldn’t be worried but this time was different. 

You also really wanted to dance with him. You danced together a lot when you were younger, then both of you started seeing it as something more romantic. You were best friends, you didn’t want to seem romantic. 

You couldn’t sleep. You wondered where John was but also you wondered the reason behind him offering that dance. That occupied your mind so much that sleep seemed impossible.

Was it because he didn’t want to talk about London like you assumed or was it because he wanted to dance with you like you hoped? You didn’t know how long you have been trying to go to sleep either. 

Your tired body started giving up and your loud thoughts faded. You were finally falling to sleep and you would if someone didn’t knock on your door.

Your eyes opened wide, you jumped out of your bed. John didn’t show up like he promised you and spent 3 weeks in London for ‘business’ so you just assumed you were in trouble.

It wouldn’t be the first time you were on a kill list because you were so close to the Shelbys. You took your paper knife from the desk in your room, it was your best choice as a weapon at that moment.

You held the knife tight and stood behind the door. “Who is it?” you said, ready to stab whoever was behind your door. “Y/N just open up!” you heard John say, he sounded like he was trying to speak with his teeth clenched. 

“Thank God!” you dropped the knife on the floor and opened the door. What you saw behind the door made you take the thanks back. John stood still, blood dripping behind his white shirt. His jacket was missing and he had no gun on him. 

“What the fuck happened?” you asked, you pulled him in. You shut the door and made him sit on the floor, he was losing so much blood that he was dizzy and couldn’t stand up properly.

“You fucker!” you shouted at him, John looked at you not getting why you were angry at him. He was shot on his left arm, the bullet missed his heart with only a few centimeters. 

“Just take this bullet out now!” John shouted, “Don’t you have a whole family who can do that better than me?” you asked in horror. “Just do it!” he shouted back.

You ran to the living room, grabbed the single bottle of vodka you had. You handed the bottle to John but he drank it instead of showering his wound with it.

“That’s not why I gave it to you!” you shouted at him. You were sure the neighbours were going to complain a lot. You took the bottle back as soon as he finished his sip.

You sat down on your knees. You took the paper knife again, first cut the sleeves of his shirt and then poured the vodka on. “Don’t waste it, I need it!” John told you. You just chuckled and carefully put the knife on his skin. 

“Yeah, drinking is more important.” you complained while you tried to dig the knife under the bullet. John screamed in pain, “I thought you were tougher than that.” you laughed. 

“Shut up!” he shouted back, scrunching his face from the pain. You finally pushed the bullet out, piled the cut sleeve into a ball and started pushing it on the open wound. 

You took a sip from the vodka, “I thought it wasn’t to drink.” John mumbled while still being obviously in pain. “I need it because you showed up wounded in the middle of the night and stood me up earlier.” you said and John’s face just relaxed.

“You waited for me?” he asked simply, you hated that he had the balls to ask that. You ignored the question, “You should’ve gone to Polly, I’m sure she would be better at taking it out.” John squinted his eyes.

“No I couldn’t, nobody can know I fucked up.” he said, you knew what he was talking about. He fucked the ‘business’ up with whatever he did in London. “And couldn’t let the kids see me like this.” how could you forget about John’s kids, apparently they were with Polly when he was in London. 

John took the ball of shirt from you and started pushing it himself. “If you did something wrong, they’ll know sooner or later.” you said, almost pitying him. You knew very well how an angry Tommy Shelby behaved. 

“I’ll tell them, just not like this.” he said but that made you a little uneasy. “So why did you come here? To put me in danger too?” you asked, still bitter about the dance. 

“No because I wanted to apologise.” you took your gaze away from him. “For what?” you asked like you didn’t know. “For not being there to dance.” he said, you looked back at him.

“I thought we didn’t dance, friends don’t dance like that, remember?” you asked, trying him and searching for the answer you hoped for. 

“You were willing to dance when I asked you at the pub.” you nodded, had nothing to say. “And also for not keeping my promise, you were probably worried.” he confessed, you once again nodded. “Obviously I was right to be worried.” you pointed at his left arm.

He laughed, you assumed the pain had faded. “I’m sorry Y/N.” he apologised sincerely, his impression said it all. “It’s okay, you never stood me up.” you sounded sad.

John took a deep breath, “Dance with me.” he said. You were surprised to get that offer at that exact moment. “What?” you asked, he tried to stand up but he felt too weak to do so. 

“Dance with me like you promised me, I came all the way here.” he said smiling softly. “You came here because you were shot.” you answered, “So you’re not gonna dance with me?” you copied his smile and helped you get up.

“My record player is broken though.” you said while walking him to the living room in your arm. You looked down to the floor worrying about the carpets. All of your carpets now had blood stains on but it didn’t matter. One of the things Shelbys thought you was how to take blood stains off, you were in luck.

“We’ll dance without music then.” he said, he stopped pushing on his arm even though it was still bleeding. He wrapped his arms around you even though it caused him pain.

You started looking deep into his green eyes, they hadn’t changed a bit since the day you first met him. Neither of you were over the age of 10, kids playing together, sharing anything. Your parents passed away and your aunt who was your guardian was absent. You grew inside the Shelbys and that was the best thing that happened to you.

Looking deep into his eyes made you remember the day he married Martha and how happy he was. You saw the same happiness in his eyes that day. “Are you happy?” you asked him, totally unintentionally.

“I am when I’m with you.” he said and started whistling a tune. He kept whistling and you moved your body in sync with his. 

“John Shelby, do you love me?” you asked and he stopped whistling. He didn’t stop dancing though. “Is that even a question?” he asked and you thought he didn’t get the exact question.

“But do you love me?” you let your arms go, you stopped dancing and stood before him like a statue. “I do.” he said, you weren’t convinced. Your brain just couldn’t accept that your love wasn’t unrequited. 

“Do you love me like you loved Martha?” you asked, he licked his lips and blinked. “Maybe even more.” he confessed, your knees got weak. 

You looked on your right arm, it had stains of blood from John’s wound. You still weren’t convinced that he loved you back. You thought best friends could be the only thing you’ll ever be. 

“What took you so long.” you swallowed, you should’ve been happy but you weren’t. You’d rather not learn about his feelings this way. You would rather learn it at a time when he wasn’t wounded and came to you for it. 

“Denial.” he said, “I didn’t believe we could be anything other than friends.” he confessed. Hearing that made you smile, you didn’t even realise you were smiling until he copied yours. 

“So what now?” Do I let you kiss me?” you raised your eyebrows and asked. “Yes and maybe more?” he divided his lips like he was asking for the kiss. 

“I just took a bullet out of you!” you exclaimed, “That never stopped me!” he replied back. You laughed, “Fucking hell!” you gave up and pushed your lips on his.

This was surprisingly your first kiss with him. As teenagers you two had debated if you should try kissing but that seemed too dangerous for both of you. Neither of you wanted to risk your friendship. 

What made you risk your friendship at that moment was a mystery. You didn’t think a moment about that because after that one moment of shock, you were finally happy to get that confession.

His lips were better than what you imagined. They were soft even though they looked rough and chapped. His lips were cold most likely because of all the blood he lost. 

You parted from him to take a breath and slipped an “I love you.” before you kissed him again. Knowing he wanted more, you didn’t care about his wound and pushed him on the couch. You knew exactly what he wanted and you would give it to him.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked it <3
> 
> my tumblr, where i originally posted this is oddshelbyout.


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